Acceptance
by Padfoots-Sister5
Summary: Though Draco's heart was breaking, as he stared at his wife laughing with his son and then at Hermione Granger holding the hands of Ronald Weasley, he felt something he had been searching for all these years...acceptance.


**A/N: I'm probably the biggest Ron/Hermione shipper, but Draco/Hermione together is just **_**so **_**fun to write about! Feed-back is much appreciated! Please review! **

"_Lumos_." Whispered Draco and his wand instantly lit up revealing the path in front of him. It was nearly midnight and he knew he didn't have much time. His parents would be expecting him soon to discuss the next year's plans, so he had about one hour to complete his mission.

He made his way through the hidden tunnel until reaching a door. _It's this one. It has to be this one._ He pushed it open slowly and in front of him laid four Gryffindor girls sleeping in their corresponding beds. He looked at the first bed and saw Ginny Weasley cuddling with a teddy bear, fast asleep. In the next one, Parvati Patil laid snoring as loud as a lion. Draco couldn't help but chuckle. He continued forward past Lavender Brown's bed until he reached the bed he had been looking for the entire time.

Her breathing was steady, and her soft brown wavy hair was covering her shoulders. Draco took a deep breath and tapped her lightly on the arm. At first, she didn't even twitch. He poked her again, this time with a little more conviction. She shifted and grunted, but didn't awake. In frustration, Draco smacked her arm with his wand. Her eyes fluttered open slowly. It took her a while to process that the pale ivory skinned boy in front of her was Draco Malfoy. She shot up from her bed in shock.

"What the bloody hell are you-!"

Draco quickly leaped on top of her and placed his hands on her mouth.

"Hermione, I need you to be quiet. Please. Let me talk." Draco whispered. She shook her head angrily, groaning and moaning desperately.

"I just came here to tell you something, please Hermione!" Draco hissed through his teeth. God, she was just so damn stubborn sometimes. Hermione finally stopped squirming and sighed in defeat. Draco removed his hands, and to his astonishment, she didn't yell.

"What do you want Malfoy?" she whispered.

"I…I came to tell you something."

"Yes, you've said that already. Now tell me _what _you've come to say before I begin to yell again." Hermione said, growing impatient.

"Oh, right. Okay, well. I'm sort of in love with you." Draco murmured.

"_What? _Is this some kind of joke?" Hermione glared up at the platinum blonde boy, who happened to still be sitting on top of her.

"Hermione, just…can you shut up for once and let me talk?"

Hermione looked up at Draco in shock. She nodded sheepishly.

"No. I'm not joking. I'm in love with you. I love you." Draco couldn't help but laugh.

"It feels so nice to finally say it out loud…I _love you_, Hermione Granger. And…and you'll never know that. But it's okay. I've grown to accept you can never love me and that… you'll always love Weasley." Draco felt tears forming in his eyes and he felt so stupid. Like a little school boy confessing his love for a girl that would never even give him a first chance … he felt pathetic.

"Draco- I…"

"No, let me finish." Draco placed a finger against her lips, which immediately silenced her.

"You're beautiful and probably the most brilliant girl I've ever met. I've loved you ever since I've met you…" A tear spilled over Draco's eye and trickled down his cheek.

"But… you w-would insult me… call me a- a…mudblood." Hermione stuttered. She was so confused. Was this all a dream? Maybe this wasn't even real…

"I know and I don't think you'll ever understand how sorry I am for all those years. I had to be mean to you… my parents could never know about the way I feel about you because they would look at you as a distraction and find a way to…_get rid of you._" Draco shuddered at the last four words.

"Get rid of me? As in… _kill me? _And a distraction from what? Draco… I'm so confused." Hermione was shaking underneath Draco and her head was pounding with pain.

"You're shaking. I should have never told you this… don't worry; the confusion will be over soon." Draco whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"Let me finish. I just need to get this all out. I love you Hermione… and I'm gonna keep you safe. Even though it won't seem like it, I _promise you_ that in reality, I'm keeping you safe. I won't let Voldemort hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you."

"I just don't understand Draco, I'm so-,"

But he couldn't take it anymore. Without hesitation, he pushed his lips down onto hers. Kissing her felt so _right. _Like this is where he was meant to be. Where she was meant to be. Too his surprise, Hermione didn't pull away, but kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

Draco suddenly realized he didn't have much time. He pulled away and Hermione let out a quiet noise that almost sounded like a whine.

"I have to go." Draco whispered, his breath staggered. His hair was messy and his face was flushed.

"_No! _Please Draco… stay with me." Hermione couldn't believe what she was saying. She couldn't possibly understand why she felt this way, but what she did understand was that she didn't want him going anywhere but next to her.

Draco couldn't stand looking into her pleading brown eyes and though every nerve in his body told him to leave, he scooped his head down again, and kissed her. This time, he knew she would kiss him back, so it was easier. She let him squirm under the blankets as they kissed. He didn't know how long they were in that bed together kissing, but he didn't care. Hermione reached for the buttons on his shirt but Draco pulled away.

"_No… _Hermione… I have to leave." He jumped out of the bed, fixing his shirt and hair.

"You can't. Draco… you can't." Hermione whimpered as she got out of her bed. Standing next to him, she realized how tall he had gotten. Draco placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head towards his, and gently kissed her. As their lips parted, Hermione felt something pressing against her head. She then realized Draco had begun to cry.

"Draco…what's wrong?" She asked. Draco closed his eyes and sighed.

"I told you. You can never know I love you. I'm…sorry."

"What do you…" and that's when Hermione realized that what she felt on her head was the end of Draco's wand.

"_Obliviate." _Draco choked out the word. Hermione's eyes grew wide and distant. She then fell onto her bed, and back into a deep sleep. Draco sobbed quietly as he stroked her hair and gave her one last kiss on her forehead.

_20 years later_

Draco watched his son board the Hogwarts Express with a soft smile. His wife, Astoria placed her head on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna go make sure he didn't forget anything." Astoria whispered into his ear and walked towards the train. Draco suddenly felt someone walk up from behind and stand next to him. With his peripheral vision he could see her soft brown waves and beautiful features. He didn't dare turn to his side.

"Sad isn't? Watching the kids go off… it feels as though we were on the train off for our first year." Hermione Granger said as she wiped a tear from her cheek. Draco slowly turned and finally met her eyes.

"I wouldn't say it's sad. We had our time at Hogwarts, and now it's their turn. I think it's nice." Draco whispered as he stared back at his wife who was currently tying her son's shoes.

"I'm glad everything worked out in the end Draco… for some reason…deep inside…I knew you weren't bad. That there was good in you. I don't know how. I just…felt it." Hermione grabbed Draco's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. Draco smiled back at her. He almost thought he wasn't going to be able to control himself and would wrap his arms around her in front of everybody, but she interrupted his thoughts.

"I better be going, I'm pretty sure Ron is going to break out into sobs as soon as the train leaves. It was nice talking to you Draco." She gave him one quick smile, and walked off.

He would always love her, and would never be able to feel the way he does for Hermione with anyone else, not even Astoria. But he knew he could never have her. After all these years, he'd accepted it. As Hermione Granger disappeared in the crowd, holding hands with Ronald Weasley, and the train blew out smoke and began its way towards Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy finally felt at peace.


End file.
